The Tower Of Shadows
by Broken Stone
Summary: On the way somewhere else, the TARDIS takes a wrong turning and ends up on a graveyard planet where as usual the Doctor finds plenty of trouble to keep him occupied.
1. Necropolis

**The Tower Of Shadows**

**Author's Note:** Okay, so here's the thing. I was planning on writing the second part of The Storm Trilogy I've been working on and then – I sort of didn't. I'm still working on it, but I wanted to write another Dr Who fic, so here it is. As before, all my Dr Who fics are linked, so it'll be confusing if you haven't read any of the others.

**Summary:** The crew of the TARDIS go looking for that bar mentioned at the end of _Coming of the Storm_ but take a wrong turning and end up somewhere entirely unexpected and, as usual, find plenty of trouble to keep them entertained!

**Chapter One: Necropolis**

'What's this place going to be like, then?' Rose asked, leaning over the Doctor's shoulder.

'It's the best place for a night out in the entire universe,' he replied, concentrating intently on what he was doing.

Xan looked up from the other side of the TARDIS controls and grinned. 'We're going to New Ibiza?' he joked.

Rose looked startled. 'You what?'

'New Ibiza is a huge island on the planet Exovornidas,' the Doctor said, not looking up, 'named after the one on your planet because it's become famous for its partying lifestyle. There's a permanent party going on there, the nightclubs never close and – well, you can imagine.'

'Best holiday I ever had,' Xan said.

'You've been there?' the Doctor asked.

'Yeah! Spent two weeks in hospital afterwards but it was soooo worth it.' He paused, then said, 'Well, maybe not…'

'Is that where we're going?' Rose asked the Doctor.

'No,' the Doctor said, frowning at Xan. 'We're going somewhere a little more civilised than New Ibiza.'

'Where, then?' Xan asked.

'It's a surprise,' the Doctor replied.

'As long as we can buy alcohol,' Xan said, 'I'm happy. I need a drink and Rose has to try an Intergalactic Lagoon. It'll blow your head off,' he said to her.

'I'd like to keep my crew's heads intact, if you don't mind,' the Doctor called over to them and punched a button on the control panel. The TARDIS groaned then lurched, almost hurling everyone into one of the walls.

'I maintain that you need seatbelts in this thing!' Xan yelled.

'Stop complaining!' the Doctor yelled back and started stabbing buttons and pulling levers. There was a crash from somewhere and the entire TARDIS shook, then there was silence and the Doctor said cheerfully, 'Here we are. The best place in the universe for a great time without needing to go and drink yourself into a two week hospital stay.'

Xan laughed.

The Doctor leapt down the steps and flung open the door.

They all stopped and looked thoughtfully at the sight beyond.

'I wouldn't exactly call this the best place for a night out in the universe,' Xan said eventually. 'In fact, I think it's a stretch calling it a place.'

'Doesn't seem to be much of a party going on,' Rose said.

'Maybe there's a lot going on under the surface,' Xan said.

The Doctor frowned. 'Odd.' He looked at his watch. 'Oh, I got my coordinates around the wrong way,' he said, sighing. 'That explains it.'

'In fact,' Xan continued, 'this is quite literally the complete opposite of the best place for a night out. Maybe this is where people who have the best night of their lives actually end up.'

'Shut up,' the Doctor said matter-of-factly. Xan grinned. 'Well, this is interesting.'

'No, it looks boring,' Xan said.

It was a huge, stone room, with high arched ceilings, all of solid grey stone. There were large flagstones on the floor, each one with deep engraving on them, names and dates. There were stone tombs everywhere, lining the walls, with carvings on top of each one, some vaguely humanoid, others most definitely not. Rose was reminded of tombs in cathedrals back on earth.

'What is this place?' she asked.

'This is Necropolis,' the Doctor said.

'Necropolis?' Xan queried. 'I thought that place was just a myth.'

'No, it's real,' the Doctor said in a distracted voice, walking a few steps, examining the wall and the arches of the ceiling with his hands in his jacket pockets. 'Very real, and this is it. There's quite a few places like this scattered across the universe. Rather morbid, if you think about it.'

'What is it?' Rose asked, looking around with dubious fascination.

'It's a vast graveyard,' the Doctor said softly. 'This is where the universe brings its dead. Well, those it wants to be buried in state.' He smiled briefly. 'Some of the greatest beings in the universe have been buried here.'

'Not exactly buried,' Xan observed. 'More - entombed.'

'The old fashioned way,' the Doctor added. 'In stone, which is unusual for anyone who isn't fifteenth century human, that is.'

'I heard that,' Rose called.

'You were meant to.' The Doctor sniffed. 'Very damp in here. Isn't it damp in here? Don't you think it's damp in here?'

'Maybe,' Rose said, looking around with a mixed of disgust and fascination. 'Does it matter?'

'I don't know,' he said. He smiled. 'Shall we take a look around?'

'Thought you were never going to ask,' she replied.

'Door over there,' Xan said, pointing as he walked over. 'Shall we go?'

'Why not?' the Doctor said. 'Let's go see if we can find someone to annoy.'

'You're good at that,' Rose joked.

* * *

It was a small room, filled from floor to ceiling with monitor screens and computer equipment, humming with energy, and the room was hot from all the electrical power.

A figure sat in a chair, silently viewing the screens as countless images flashed over them, footage of the entire planet and every room, corridor and tomb passing through that room. No human could have coped with the sheer amount of information on those screens alone, but this was merely a simple security device. This figure, human female in appearance, sat motionless. There were wires trailing out of the back of her head, connected to one main computer which was then connected to most of the other computers, feeding the information from the screens directly into her brain. Her eyes barely blinked, she rarely moved and she might as well have been a model for the movement or emotion she showed.

Another figure sat across the other side of the room. This one was male, and far more relaxed and animated. He was watching another screen, a huge screen that took up most of one wall and was filled with moving code. He was reading it intently, almost totally focused upon it, and occasionally made a minor adjustment to the mass of codes, occasionally deleting some of it or adding several pages of it.

The woman opened her mouth and spoke. Her eyes did not move from the screens she was watching, it did not register any emotion, her voice was flat and dry and empty.

'Itruders detected,' she said.

The man slammed a hand down on the keyboard, freezing the code. 'Who are they?' he demanded. 'No one was scheduled to inspect, no one is scheduled to be buried today!

'Unidentified personnel.'

'So they are actual intruders,' he mused aloud. 'How many are they?'

'Three.'

'What kind of craft have they arrived in? You didn't pick any incoming space craft or teleporting craft.'

'Unidentified alien craft.'

He frowned. 'Okay. What species are they?'

One human. One human-Amraki hybrid. One unidentified.

'One unidentified? What species is it?'

'Unidentified.'

'What can you identify?'

There was a pause and the woman's hands moved swiftly across the keyboard. More images, too fast to be processed by human eye, flashed across the main screen, accompanied by some text. ''Identified as potential threat.'

'Are they all identified as a threat?' he asked intently.

'Two identify as potential threat. One identifies as harmless.'

'Only one?' he said, rising and leaning over her shoulder. 'But two are enough – takes steps to neutralise the threat.'

'Specify action to be taken.'

He thought, then laughed. 'Don't worry. I'll do it myself. I want you to find out their species and who might have sent them. Cut down surveillance on all other areas of Necropolis to the minimum security levels we require and focus on finding out all about these intruders. I want to know why they're here.'


	2. Final Resting Place

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their original packaging.**

**Chapter Two: Final Resting Place**

'What a place,' the Doctor said. His voice was quiet, out of respect for the dead, but he was obviously intrigued and fascinated by the vast graveyard around them, but the way he was jittering up and down on the spot said that he was also nervous.

'Exactly what is there to see here?' Rose asked, a little impatiently. 'There can't be that much of great interest in a place like this.' She looked around with an uneasy expression.

'You'd be surprised,' the Doctor said over his shoulder. He was looking up at the ceiling, although at what neither of the other two could tell.

'I don't like it,' she said. 'It's like we've been buried alive.'

'That's a cheerful thought,' he murmured, leading the way through the dim lit corridors. There were small lights on the walls, circular discs of metal that shone with a pale light. The Doctor stopped as they reached a split in the stone corridor. He glanced up at the ceiling, frowned, then looked at the wall in front of them. There was a large sign on the door. He looked at it, narrowing his eyes to read the faded script.

'Hah!' he exclaimed sharply.

'What?' she asked.

He tapped the sign, sending up a billowing cloud of dust. 'This,' he said softly.

'What is it?' Rose asked, frowning.

'Some old friends,' he said, his eyes distant. He laughed suddenly, quietly. 'Very old friends.' He tapped the sign again. 'This lists the most important people buried in this area and there's someone here I used to know.' He looked at them. 'I am going to go and pay my respects,' he said. 'I won't be long.' He sauntered off down the corridor. 'Don't go wandering off,' he called over his shoulder.

When he had gone, Rose and Xan looked at each other and burst out laughing.

* * *

Actually, the Doctor didn't have any old friends to visit here. He had seen the names of a couple of Time Lords on the faded sign and natural curiosity had sent him wandering in this direction. It also gave him an excuse for being here, if anyone caught him. As far as the other two were concerned, he trusted them to be able to find and possibly avoid trouble if they found it.

Besides, he did want to pay his respects to his dead people, buried here, alone and without the incessant questions he would get if the other two were with him.

He found himself in a broad corridor, lined on either side with stone doors, each one neatly labelled with the name of the deceased, their species, home planet, date of birth and death and, if applicable, any great achievements.

Time Lords. The final resting place of some of his people. He regarded their tombs silently and with mixed emotions of deep sadness and profound relief. These, at least, had been given a burial of some kind. Not like the others, the rest of the Time Lords, wiped out in an inferno.

Was this where he, too, would be buried?

The Doctor shivered in the gloom at the thought. When he eventually died, he didn't want to be buried here. It was too close, too claustrophobic, too remote…

His thoughts trailed off as a thought struck him. He glanced up at the ceiling again and considered it silently. There was a security camera there. It was one of many he had spotted since they had arrived. There were a lot here – too many for what was, essentially, a tomb. What needed keeping an eye on down here, except making sure that the systems here that kept the tombs at a regular temperature, sealed the tombs and so on, were running smoothly? Nothing, as far as he could tell.

He smiled to himself, suddenly cheered up. Nothing lifted his spirits like potential trouble in the air.

* * *

'This is one of the most boring places I have ever been in my life,' Xan announced.

'I think I agree with you,' Rose said, leaning against a wall. 'You know, I'm disappointed. When I usually wander off when the Doctor says not to, I usually find something dangerous or strange or at least interesting. Here? Nothing.'

'Shall we go back?'

'Yeah,' she said, sighing. 'There's nothing here. Nothing except some mouldering bones and stones. Oh, that rhymed.'

'Oh, well, we tried,' Xan said as they returned to their previous position.

The Doctor returned a minute later. He looked startled too see them both there and frowned. 'What happened?'

'Nothing,' Xan said. 'That's the problem.'

'We found nothing and we came back,' Rose clarified. She looked closely at him. 'You all right?'

'Paying my respects to a couple of Time Lords,' he said shortly. 'It was something that needed doing. Something I've not really had the chance to do – just take even a moment to mourn properly.' He gave a small smile. 'And I still don't quite have the chance to do that because – '

'You found something,' Xan said.

'I did. A couple of things. One of which is damp.'

'What?' Rose said.

'Damp. There's damp.'

She sighed. 'Tell us what the problem with the bloody damp is,' she said irritably.

'This place should be maintained at a constant low temperature,' the Doctor said. 'Not too hot, not too cold. But this place is too damp, someone hasn't been looking after the tombs properly.' He grinned. 'So there's a bit of a nasty smell in here. Smells like trouble.' He paused. 'Notice anything else?'

'Yeah,' Xan said. 'There's loads of cameras, I noticed that. It's weird, a bit excessive.'

'Exactly!' the Doctor said. 'There's a lot of security cameras here. Far more than anyone would ever need simply to keep check over a graveyard planet and if it is necessary, why only one room for the entire planet? Why not just one for each area?'

'Let's go find out,' Rose said, cheering up.

'Let's find out and get out of here as soon as possible,' he agreed, a little tensely.

'Something wrong?' she asked him, concerned.

'If I should die – ' he began.

'_Think only this of me_,' Xan said without missing a beat. '_That there is some corner of a foreign fields that is forever England_. Or whatever planet you call home.'

The Doctor scowled at him. 'Do you mind?'

'Sorry.'

'I don't want to be buried here,' the Doctor finished. 'Never, never, never, not if I live another nine hundred years. Okay?'

'Sure,' Rose said. 'So where do you want to be buried?'

'And what song would you like played at your funeral?' Xan added.

'What's your people's colour of mourning?'

'You want to be buried or cremated?'

The Doctor glared at them both and pointed out, 'Odds are, you're going to die long before me.'

That shut them both up.

**Okay, this wasn't great but I've been working on quite a few projects recently.**

**Note: The poem referenced is _The Soldier_ by Rupert Brooke. I put it in mainly to entertain myself and in the vague hope that others might get the reference and also find it mildly amusing. I have an odd sense of humour.**


End file.
